The Witcher season 2: Filming underway, Kristofer Hivju cast, crossing our fingers for Mark Hamill
The last week has been flush with The Witcher season 2 news, the casting of several exciting roles, including Game of Thrones Kirstofer Hivju and serious buzz surrounding Geralt’s mentor, Vesemir, to be possibly played by Star Wars’ Mark Hamill (I hope).
We’re still processing season one of The Witcher, but there’s plenty more to sink our teeth into, with season two already in early stages of production. With all the information coming out of the second season’s production, we’re here to break down all the potential casting news and what changes we can expect from the sophomore season.
Kristofer Hivju as cursed monster
First off is the rumor about Game of Thrones‘ Kirstofer Hivju, which turns out to be true! I interviewed the Tormund Giantsbane actor at Sundance Film Festival, and at the time, he was unable to answer questions regarding the rumored casting news. But since then, Redanian Intelligence has reported that the Norwegian actor will play the mysterious character, Nigel, who crafty Witcher fans have deduced is really cursed, monstrous Nivellen.
Redanian Intelligence reported the news after obtaining a casting sheet that listed Nigel/Nivellen as “a charismatic, witty and funny man” from an “aristocratic family and has been cursed for the crimes he has committed in the past.” Nivellen is one of the more memorable characters of the Witcher realm, profiled in Andrzej Sapkowski’s “A Grain of Truth,” a short story featured in the Polish author’s first Witcher book, The Last Wish. Similar to Beauty and the Beast, but with Sapkowski’s own gruesome spin on the tale, Huvju will play the nobleman who is cursed to be a monster as punishment for his past action.
In the book, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill in the Netflix series) stumbles upon him at his old mansion in the forest, proceeding to one of the more intriguing scenes of the Witcher series, where Nivellen describes the backstory of his beastly curse. The Witcher tries to help the monstrous nobleman and is integral in lifting the curse. Whether or not the Netflix series will follow this line of narrative exactly, we don’t know. We do know that casting charismatic Kristofer Hivju is a fascinating, perfect choice, and we’re glad this rumor turned out to be true.
You can read more about the background of the Nivellen character here.
The full casting sheet breaks down the other characters Netflix is looking to fulfill for The Witcher season two.
More Witchers coming
The extremely popular Netflix series left off with Geralt and Ciri finding each other, and The Witcher season 2 is likely to take place at Kaer Morhen, specifically the School of the Wolf, where Ciri will undergo training.
The Hivju news comes on the heels of the casting of two other Witchers. Paul Bullion (Peaky Blinders) is set to play witcher Lambert, who has quite a horrible backstory that includes an abusive father who is saved by a Witcher (after the family was looking forward to being rid of him). The Witcher then claims Lambert as his “law of surprise,” contributing to Lambert’s very dark view of Witchers (and life in general). It’s a meaty role for Bullion, playing one of the more popular characters featured in the CD Projekt game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The other Witcher is Coën, to be portrayed by Dark Heart‘s Yasen Atour. Both characters are important to Ciri’s training in Blood of Elves.
Dolittle‘s Carmel Laniado has been confirmed as the mysterious (who isn’t in the world of The Witcher?) Violet, described as “a young girl whose playful and whimsical demeanor is a front for a smarter and more sadistic character.”
Big name for Vesemir
Right around the time that season one of The Witcher was released last Christmas, fans of the series already started lobbying for a certain Star Wars‘ alumn to take on the role of Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor. The effort even got to Mark Hamill himself, who added more excitement by expressing interest (#CallMyAgent, LOL).
I still have no idea what this is or what it's about, but I DO know they haven't ever asked me to play Vesemir... yet.#CallMyAgent https://t.co/8gZpuwfsMi
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 25, 2019
Netflix is purportedly looking to cast a “big name” for the role of Vesemir, and approached both Michael Keaton and Mads Mikkelson (whose brother Lars Mikkelsen played Stregobor in the first season of The Witcher), but they turned it down, surprisingly. However disappointing it seems that they did not approach Luke Skywalker himself originally, a new rumor has crept up that Hamill has now been offered the role definitively, according to VideoGamer.
Just like the Hivju rumor, I’m really hoping this one is true. I have to say casting Mark Hamill would be just perfect for The Witcher season 2. Netflix, please make this happen!
Next. The Witcher is getting an anime movie ahead of season 2. dark